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Echo of Silence hit the nail right on the head. The Macpherson suspension design is more cost effective than the double wishbone design. Whether Nissan took this into consideration or not, I dont know.
Some of the down falls of the strut design are that the vehicle looses negative camber (goes into positive camber) in bump. Double wishbones gain negative camber when the suspension is in bump which is desireable in the turns. The strut suspension design also puts the strut itself in bending. As a result the strut has to be stronger, hence heavier to avoid bending. Heavier weights at the corners increase your YAW moment affecting maneuverability. Bending loads on a strut create FRICTION which is the "absolute enemy of suspension function".
This is not to say that the Macpherson strut design is bad, it can be made to perform well as many tuners have shown.
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